SimpleClosure vs Sunset: which wind-down service should handle a closing startup's data?

SimpleClosure and Sunset wind down startups and handle a closing company’s data. Sunset says it buys the data itself; SimpleClosure says its AssetHub sells or licenses it to SimpleClosure, an affiliate or outside buyers. The choice turns on who signs and what each excludes. Forbes reported in April 2026 that SimpleClosure typically paid $10,000 to $100,000 per closing company and that Sunset buys “at similar prices.” Since September 2026, SimpleClosure has also opened AssetHub to operating companies (as of October 2026).

Who buys the data, and who signs with us?

With Sunset, Sunset itself; with SimpleClosure, SimpleClosure, an affiliate or a buyer it introduces. SimpleClosure’s terms, effective May 6, 2026, cover assets submitted for “potential acquisition” by SimpleClosure, its affiliates and subsidiaries, or “third-party buyers introduced through the Services,” each under a separate agreement after due diligence. Sunset wrote on April 14, 2026 that it does not act as a broker but purchases “the dataset directly” and licenses it to “AI labs and research partners,” though a March 23 post had described “connecting you with a network of potential buyers.”

When Sunset buys, or SimpleClosure or an affiliate acquires, the wind-down firm owns the data and can license it on: SimpleClosure’s terms give it the right to “sell, license, or otherwise transfer” assets to third parties “following a completed acquisition.” When an outside buyer acquires, SimpleClosure’s buyer page says buyers still receive assets through SimpleClosure rather than negotiating with each startup. Ask each for the legal name of the company that will sign and pay you.

What does each pay, and who pays the fees?

The published figures do not separate them on price. Forbes’s numbers come from SimpleClosure: nearly 100 deals for dead companies in the year before April 2026, over $1 million recovered, “typically paying between $10,000 and $100,000 per company.” For Sunset, Forbes wrote only that it buys “at similar prices,” and quoted CEO Brendan Mahony that price depends on a company’s size, its age and “data richness” (Forbes, April 16, 2026). Sunset publishes no price of its own. SimpleClosure’s September 3, 2026 release says AssetHub is “on track to return more than $10 million” to startups by the end of 2026, a projection across all sellers.

Fees are set differently, as of October 2026:

• SimpleClosure: AssetHub “remains free for SimpleClosure dissolution customers and is now available to other established companies,” the release says, without giving what other companies pay.
• Sunset: its wind-down is “a single, flat fee” covering legal, tax and operations; under its terms, the fee is set in a service agreement and is non-refundable once work starts. Whether buying your data reduces that fee, Sunset does not say.

Either way, the payment goes to the company. SimpleClosure’s guide tells closing founders to “use proceeds to pay obligations, and return the rest to shareholders in order of liquidation preference.” How much is my company’s data worth? keeps closing-company prices apart from operating-company ones.

What data does each take, and what does each leave out?

Both want the record of how a product was built, and Sunset’s CEO and reporting on SimpleClosure’s sales both put more value on linked records. Mahony told Forbes that a Jira ticket tied to a specific code commit is worth more than a standalone document; Upstarts Media, reporting SimpleClosure’s figures in September 2026, said code fetches more with context “from Jira, Linear or Figma, or the full loop of related emails, customer records and support logs.” So export code, tickets and chat together before the subscriptions end; SimpleClosure’s guide warns that “asset value erodes quickly during a shutdown.”

They differ at the edges. SimpleClosure sells two defined products, SourceCode and WorkspaceData (AssetHub), and its September release says “sensitive employee and health records, as well as any information sellers designate as out of scope, are not sold.” Sunset’s March post counts “internal data, product logs, and user behavior” among valuable assets, which reaches into how customers used the product, and its assets page lists customer lists among the assets it disposes of. Sunset does not publish which records it excludes (checked October 5, 2026). If your product holds customer or end-user records, settle what is out of scope before either service sees anything; Can I leave out certain customers, people or folders? covers how.

How does each de-identify the data, and what about our employees?

SimpleClosure describes a method; Sunset states an outcome. SimpleClosure’s September release describes “a multi-pass de-identification protocol designed to detect and replace personal and sensitive information, including names, emails, credentials, keys and customer identifiers.” Sunset’s April post says every dataset is “fully anonymized and stripped of personally identifiable information,” and it publishes no method.

On consent, SimpleClosure’s terms have the seller warrant that it has “provided all required notices to, and obtained all required consents from,” anyone whose personal information is in the assets, and indemnify SimpleClosure. Sunset’s terms and privacy policy (updated July 21, 2026) cover its wind-down clients’ information, not datasets it buys, so its commitments would sit in the purchase agreement.

Excluding HR files does not take employees out of the data: Slack threads and email are their words. Forbes quoted Marc Rotenberg, founder of the Center for AI and Digital Policy: “It’s not generic data. It’s identifiable people.” Ask either service what notice to employees it expects and whether you can review a de-identified sample first. What does “anonymized” mean? and Is it legal to sell company emails and records? list the checks.

Can we wind down with one and sell the data elsewhere?

Selling through AssetHub without closing with SimpleClosure: yes, SimpleClosure says. Selling to Sunset without its wind-down: Sunset does not say (checked October 5, 2026). SimpleClosure’s September release opened AssetHub “beyond its dissolution customers to companies at any stage,” including those winding down, so a company closing with Sunset or another firm can list there, at a cost the release does not give. Sunset’s product page description lists “data monetization” as part of its wind-down, and its fee is fixed before work starts; ask whether it changes if the data goes elsewhere.

Before shopping data between them, note that submitting to AssetHub grants SimpleClosure a perpetual, irrevocable license to “aggregate, anonymize, and de-identify Your Data to use for any legal purpose,” which its terms say “specifically includes Digital Assets” submitted through AssetHub; that wording is not limited to assets that sell. Ask how that applies if you then sell elsewhere.

Other buyers also take closing companies’ data. Troveo’s September 15, 2026 guide says it can “scope the archive, remove the personal details, package it, and license it to buyers on terms you approve,” and Turing’s Project Lazarus said in December 2025 that it acquires repositories, design docs and internal wikis “from defunct startups.” The buyers directory lists others.

Where does Replay fit, since Sunset’s operator runs it?

Replay is the same company’s offer for businesses that keep operating, on a different deal. Sunsets HQ Corp., a Delaware corporation in Brooklyn, is named in the terms on both Sunset’s and Replay’s sites; Replay’s founder writes on its About page, “I started one called Sunset”; and a Replay job posting targets “operating companies exploring a new revenue stream through data licensing.” Sunset’s homepage, product page and terms do not mention Replay (checked October 5, 2026).

Replay says “You’re paid up front, plus a revenue share of every license” and publishes price tiers starting at $10K–$100K for 20 to 50 employees, where Sunset describes buying outright. SimpleClosure serves operating companies through AssetHub itself. A closing company offered Replay’s structure should ask who receives the revenue share once the company is dissolved; the Replay profile has its terms.

Which fits our company: SimpleClosure or Sunset?

Public facts do not show either paying more. On what each publishes as of October 2026:

SimpleClosure may fit if:

• you want published exclusions from the start (it says sensitive employee and health records, and anything you mark out of scope, are not sold);
• code is your main asset, since you can connect a GitHub repository for a first assessment;
• you want outside buyers able to acquire, not only the wind-down firm;
• you are closing with SimpleClosure, whose dissolution customers use AssetHub free, or may keep operating.

Sunset may fit if:

• you want one counterparty that buys the data and handles licensing, with no sale process for you to run;
• you are winding down with Sunset and want the data handled in the same engagement.

Neither publishes a count of data sales completed since April 2026; SimpleClosure’s “more than 350” counts companies supported (checked October 5, 2026).

What should we ask both before choosing?

Send both the same questions in writing so the answers line up:

1. Which legal entity buys our data and pays us, and is it a sale or a license?
2. What is the price, when is it paid, and is any of it conditional on a buyer accepting the data?
3. What does the wind-down cost with the data sale, and without it?
4. Which records does the agreement exclude, and can we add our own?
5. Who de-identifies the data, can we review a sample, and when is the raw copy deleted?
6. What notices or consents do you need from us for employees and customers?
7. Can we sell the same data to anyone else, before or after signing?
8. SimpleClosure: what rights do you keep in data we submit that never sells? Sunset: is this offer under Sunset’s agreement or Replay’s?

If you already hold an offer from either, the offer benchmark lays it out against these points.